From what I've heard Dubai is privately owned and run by a person, including with the workplaces and venues on it which the enterprise has paid for. Would you say it qualifies as a prosperous modern Feudal society? It attracts alot of tourists and also commerce. Manorialism is agricultural but Feudalism does not have to be and practices of it have lasted into the 20th century, as well as today in Dubai. You need to basically be somebody who works on a lord/king's land and also rents it I think with the armies/law enforcement privately contracted via their treasury instead of state coffers.

Who are the lords in this system and what privileges do they have. What are their obligations? __________________"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free." - Anatole France

If anything, Dubai, as you described it, sounds more like the ancient Kingdom of the Ptolemies. Which isn't bad, but it's not feudalism.__________________"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free." - Anatole France

Originally Posted by PonocratesWho are the lords in this system and what privileges do they have. What are their obligations?

The owner of the estate or Lord in Dubai happens to be Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum from what most know. From what I've heard he runs it and most to everything in it with the same power over it as a lord would have generally, if somebody can correct me here. This is why when you hear of Dubai it almost sounds like a 'city state' sometimes.

Furthermore I'm not sure but somebody said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general uses absolute Monarchy, but if that's true I'm not sure if they're feudal or not. They have very strict immigration laws at the same time and people outside are rarely granted citizenship/permanent residence.

Well it is clear that the Sheikh is a monarch with absolute authority. However, there are no lords under him who possess fiefdoms. There isn't an order of rank of obligations and privileges between vassals and overlord, which seems to be a defining feature of feudalism. For example, here is the Wikipedia entry for "fief" (not that Wikipedia is always unbiased or reliable, but it seems accurate here):

Quote:

A fief (/fiːf/; Latin: feudum) was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty (or "in fee") in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the personal ceremonies of homage and fealty. The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure: these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including governmental office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade, and tax farms.

Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings (which were granted only as a reward for loyalty), but by the eighth century the giving of a landholding was becoming standard.[8] The granting of a landholding to a vassal did not relinquish the lord's property rights, but only the use of the lands and their income; the granting lord retained ultimate ownership of the fee and could, technically, recover the lands in case of disloyalty or death.[8]

By the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary.[10] The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord and pay a "relief" for the land (a monetary recognition of the lord's continuing proprietary rights over the property).

__________________"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free." - Anatole France

BTW, it seems that Dubai is a well-managed and stable state, not only in the Middle East, but in the world generally. I don't see why a feudal arrangement would be necessary here.__________________"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free." - Anatole France

Insert Photos

Web address (URL)

Image URL

If your URL is correct, you'll see an image preview here. Large images may take a few minutes to appear.
Remember: Using others' images on the web without their permission may be bad manners, or worse, copyright infringement.